


Love at First Flight

by cukimonstaaa



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Cuddling, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kissing, M/M, Masturbation in Shower, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Spoilers - Lilo and Stitch, Stucky - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, airport
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-08-30 22:40:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8551966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cukimonstaaa/pseuds/cukimonstaaa
Summary: When a snowstorm unexpectedly grounds all flights, what starts out as a traveling inconvenience of major proportions may turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to two strangers waiting on the same flight.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, first time posting a story. Major thanks to LightningStriking for encouraging me to write and to post this cute story. Couldn't have done it without her :) Literally, she wrote the summary to encourage me to post. Thanks again! :)
> 
> Enjoy!

Bucky’s been awake now for well over 24 hours. (He doesn’t count the uncomfortable nap he had on the bus as sleeping.) He curses the remoteness of the town where his babushka lives even as his mouth waters at the thought of her cooking, which makes the insane annual trip to her house worthwhile. So he trudges on through the airport, stomach grumbling and feet aching.

Just as he plops down into a worn-out waiting area chair and opens the paper bag of his thirty-dollar lunch, he kicks his feet up on his carry-on luggage and habitually looks to the screens displaying flight information. _Oh no_ , his stomach drops. His flight has been delayed. He quickly downs his mediocre lunch, and goes to the gate desk to ask for information about his flight. The tired-looking gate attendant, a young blonde Russian (judging by her accent), tells him that the flight will be delayed for an unknown amount of time due to the snowstorm, but she’s certain the delay will last for several hours.

Bucky checks the weather on his phone. The snowstorm looks massive. He sighs and tries to accept the fact that he’ll be here all day and possibly even all night. Glad as ever that he brought a long book to read, he picks a seat in a more abandoned waiting area and curls up to read.

 

\--

 

Eventually, the sound of his phone dying brings him back to the present. He stiffly straightens out from where he was curled up on two seats and looks around the sparsely populated airport. Huh. Looks like a lot of people knew their flights would be delayed and didn’t bother showing up. Or, they’re stuck out in the snow. Bucky shakes off the alarming thought and stands up. All the power outlet stations in this waiting area are full.

He sighs and looks out his nearest window. He almost wants to cry: it’s dark out. He’s definitely not getting a flight out of here tonight. He finally pulls his phone out of his messenger bag and checks the time. Almost 6 pm and he has five percent battery left. He goes to the men’s room to freshen up a bit. He splashes water on his face and runs his hands through his hair. He sniffs his armpit: not bad for going on two days of the same clothes. He decides to brush his teeth while he’s here. He might as well make the best of the situation and try to catch some sleep.

When he exits the bathroom, he walks around the airport, looking for an outlet. He finds that although the airport appears more deserted by the hour, the few people who are here, are clustered around outlets, possibly hunkering down for the night. Worse still, only the large gate areas have charging stations. After circling the few power stations and finding everything full, he keeps walking until he spots an empty double-gate area. _Where is everybody going?_ He briefly considers leaving the airport to find a hotel nearby. One look out the huge windows tells him that going outside right now would be a terrible idea.

He walks along the wall nearest him and doesn’t find any outlets. As he’s crossing the large room, he sees blond hair peeking over the last row of seats. He walks a little bit slower, but soon sees that a blond man is sitting on the floor by the only outlet on the wall. The man looks up from his charging tablet as Bucky gets near him and smiles. Bucky takes that as encouragement and walks over to him.

“Hey, do you mind if I sit here? My phone is dying.” Bucky’s phone beeps pathetically as he holds it up.

The blond’s smile grows wider, “Not at all. Pull up some carpet.” He gestures to his left.

Bucky sets down his bag, parks his small luggage to his side and sits down with his back against the wall. He pulls his charger out of his bag and plugs in his phone. Now that his phone is charging, he looks down at his belongings and considers trying to sleep, but decides against it. The blond might not look like a thief, but a pretty face is no reason to trust a stranger. And what a pretty face indeed.

“You think we’re stuck here all night?” Bucky asks, just to have a legitimate reason to look at the stranger. Said stranger glances at him before looking out the window, treating Bucky to a nice view of the blond’s profile: he has a strong jawline, short, spiky blond hair, and a long, attractive nose. Bucky notices that his eyelashes are far too long and thick, framing baby blue eyes, and his lips are far too full for such a masculine man. Well, too long and too full to be fair anyway. They might’ve been effeminate, if not for his strong features. In the end, they just make the blond a very attractive man.

When the good-looking man looks back at him, he says, “Yeah, looks like we’re here ‘til morning.” One side of his plush, pink lips pulls up as he considers their situation.

Bucky looks into his baby blues for a just a moment too long before looking away from the man entirely and speaking to the open room, “That sucks. I didn’t plan on sleeping here tonight.” He looks down at the ground and sighs, pushing a dejected puff of air out of his lungs.

“Ha. Me either. I thought I’d be halfway home by now.” Bucky hears the man say.

When he looks back at him to ask where “home” is, because clearly this man is American as well, Bucky catches him quickly looking away from Bucky’s face. In fact, Bucky’s willing to bet money that he’d been staring at his lips. Bucky can’t help but smile warmly at him, although maybe his warm smile crosses into smirking territory.

 _Yes!_ Bucky thinks to himself gleefully, thankful that the attraction doesn’t appear to be one-sided.

“Where is home?” Bucky asks politely.

“Brooklyn,” The man says immediately and is about to ask Bucky where he’s from, but Bucky cuts him off excitedly.

“No way! Me too!” Bucky exclaims, leaning in closer to the blond.

“Yeah?” The blond leans in too, shy smile growing and eyes widening with surprise.

As it turns out, they live within a few blocks of each other and are actually taking the same flight back to JFK. The blond has lived in Brooklyn his entire life and Bucky shares that he moved to Brooklyn after living in Russia until he was seven. The two become engrossed in their conversation, until Bucky’s phone beeps again, more cheerfully this time to indicate that its battery is fully charged. The blond is in the middle of a story about a schoolyard bully, Bucky is certain the large man will be the hero of this story, but the phone’s sound prompts him to disconnect his phone and when he distractedly looks down to unplug it, he sees that it’s already past 10 pm!

The blond notices Bucky’s shocked expression and stops telling his story to ask, “Is everything okay?”

Bucky looks back at him, “I’m sorry. I just--it’s after ten. I didn’t think it was so late.” He stows his charger back into his bag and sticks his phone into the pocket of his leather jacket. “I’m going to see if anything is still open. I think I need a snack.” He looks into the good-looking man’s baby blue eyes, “Would you like to come with me?” Bucky asks as he prepares to stand.

The blond smiles with a blush before saying, “I’d like to, but how about I stay here to guard our spot?”

 Suddenly, Bucky has butterflies filling his stomach and he wants to believe it’s because the blond’s blush is adorable and not because the man said “our spot.”

 “Good idea,” Bucky says as he gets to his feet and slings his bag over his shoulder. “Can I get you anything?”

 “Just a black coffee if you can find any. Maybe a pastry?” The blond’s about to pull out money from his wallet when Bucky tells him--

 “No, no, I got it. It’s the least I can do for my security guard.” Bucky smiles charmingly at the blond, making him laugh.

 “Thanks.”

 “I’m going to leave my other stuff here if that’s okay?” Bucky questions.

 “Yeah of course, I assure you no harm will come to your belongings under my care.” The blond vows solemnly.

 “Great,” Bucky laughs and just as he’s about to walk away, a thought occurs to him-- “Wait, I didn’t get your name!”

 The blond laughs, “It’s Steve.” He holds his hand out to Bucky.

 “I’m Bucky.”

 “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bucky,” Steve says as he grins up at Bucky, who feels his cheeks warm up.

 “Pleasure to meet you too.” Bucky smiles, perhaps more dopily than he’d like if he could see his own expression, but he can’t and he’s practically beaming. “Ok, I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

 “I’ll be here.”

 Bucky feels the warmth in his cheeks spread to his chest as he walks away. _That sounds good_ , he thinks to himself.

 

\--

 

Steve is playing a game on his tablet when Bucky returns.

“This was all I could find.” Bucky holds out a coffee and a paper bag to Steve, who takes both like he’s been offered a full Thanksgiving dinner. “Only one restaurant was open. Thankfully it was the one selling coffee.”

“This is great! Thank you!” Steve breathes in the warm scent of his coffee. “Seriously, this is amazing.” He sips his coffee and Bucky sees him almost shudder with satisfaction. Steve opens his eyes. “You’ll be happy to know nobody tried to encroach upon our territory.”

“I had no doubts in your ability to defend our territory.”

Steve smiles at him as Bucky gets settled back into his space. He purchased a bottle of water, a milk, a bagel, and a seven-dollar bag of honey teddy grahams for himself.

Steve opens his paper bag and gasps as he pulls out a blueberry scone. “Ah! It’s like you know me.” He nudges Bucky playfully with his shoulder.

Bucky’s heart skips a beat and when he replies, his voice sounds a little too breathless for his own liking, “Yup, I can read your mind.”

But Steve musn’t hear anything in Bucky’s voice because he just continues to eat his scone and drink his coffee.

The two talk quietly as they eat their snacks. Soon, Steve starts to blink and talk more slowly as he leans back against the wall. Bucky’s about to tell him to try to sleep, when Steve gets up, slings his duffel bag over his shoulder, and gathers their trash. “I’m going to go take out my contacts. Do you mind watching my stuff?”

“Course not, go ahead.”

Steve deposits their trash in a rubbish bin on his way to the bathroom. Once, he turns to smile over his shoulder at Bucky (who is very obviously appreciating the view) as he keeps walking. Steve looked fit sitting down, but standing up, Bucky can see that he’s even taller than him and has big, strong shoulders, bulging muscles emphasized by his tight, blue T-shirt, and an amazing butt. Bucky’s embarrassed to be caught staring, but not enough to stop.

Bucky exhales a shaky breath. _Oh dear._

 

\--

 

Steve doesn’t take long in the men’s room, but Bucky quickly starts feeling like he’s going to fall asleep. He stubbornly keeps his eyes open until Steve gets back.

The second he gets back, Bucky’s sleepiness quickly dissipates, because not only is Steve kind, smart, funny, and attractive as hell, now he has the gall to wear thick-framed glasses?! He looks more adorable than a puppy Labrador would wearing the same glasses.

 _Who does he think he is?! Nooo!_ _He’s too cute. I can’t. Nope. Done._ Bucky thinks to himself as his brain short-circuits.

Steve surveys the area, unaware of Bucky’s gaze and melting brain. “Should we try to sleep? There won’t be any flights leaving until morning.” He looks at Bucky, who is looking up at him unintelligently. Steve suddenly feels self-conscious under Bucky’s stare. His cheeks turn pink with a soft blush.

Bucky blinks and blushes far darker than Steve, because _wow_ , look at him staring like an asshole.

 "Yeah,” Bucky’s voice cracks on the word, so he clears his throat before speaking again. “Guess we should.” _Focus Barnes_. He pulls a dark gray fleece blanket from the front pocket of his carry-on, along with his neck pillow.

Steve opens his duffel bag to take out a white hoodie and pulls it on before finally sitting down on Bucky’s right again. He pulls the hood over his head, slips off his glasses, and stows them carefully in the outside pocket of his bag. He crosses his arms and tries to lean his head back against the wall, but that doesn’t feel comfortable enough, so he tries leaning forward a bit. That feels worse, so he digs in his bag again to take out his own neck pillow and slips down to lie on the ground completely.

Meanwhile, Bucky also has no luck trying to find a comfortable sitting position. He’s using his neck pillow, but doesn’t feel cold enough to use his blanket. His thick jacket and earlier embarrassing actions are keeping him warm. He hesitates for a second before sinking further onto the floor to lie on his back beside Steve. He senses a bit of awkwardness, so he says, “Should we take turns sleeping?”

Steve hums sleepily, “Mmm . . nah. I don’t think anything will happen. Most people are asleep by now. Besides, I’m sure that if someone tries to give us trouble, I can handle it.”

Bucky doesn’t doubt that. He notices Steve cross his arms. “Do you want to use my blanket? I’m not cold.”

Steve considers that for a second before shyly saying, “Yeah, thanks.”

Bucky hands over his blanket and Steve moves around for a few seconds, completely covering himself.

“Wow! This blanket is big!” Steve says with fascination.

Bucky chuckles quietly. “Yeah.”

“You sure you don’t wanna share? I mean--” Steve’s shocked at what he’s said. “Nevermind.” He turns to lie on his right side, facing away from Bucky.

Bucky laughs quietly again with his eyes closed. He whispers, “That’s okay Stevie, I know you weren’t trying to get fresh with me.”

Steve takes so long to respond that Bucky doesn’t think he’s going to get a response. Just as he’s drifting to sleep, Steve turns around again to face Bucky.

“Goodnight,” Steve whispers.

Bucky turns towards the sound of Steve’s voice, and mumbles with a smile, “Night.”

 

\--

 

It’s still dark out when Steve wakes up on his back, nice and warm, a pleasant scent surrounding him. For a moment, he isn’t sure why he woke up, but then he feels Bucky shivering on the floor beside him. He’s tossed aside his neck pillow in his sleep and is curled into a ball, pressing his knees and head against Steve’s side.

Steve clicks his tongue sympathetically and slips the blanket off his body to cover Bucky. The warm blanket half-wakes Bucky, who uncoils slightly and mumbles sleepily, “‘S okay, we can share.”

Steve thinks about this for a second, uncertain if Bucky would say that if he were fully conscious, but then Bucky tries to find more heat by burrowing his head under Steve’s arm. Steve automatically lifts his arm and Bucky snuggles up closer to him, pressing his entire body against him. Steve’s surprised at this turn of events, but Bucky’s handsome face looks so gosh darn peaceful. So he readjusts the blanket over them and lowers his left arm to cradle Bucky’s head.

After a few seconds, Bucky relaxes further in his sleep and ends up pressing closer against Steve. Thinking he might still be cold, Steve pulls Bucky closer with the arm he has around him and Bucky makes a noise of contentment. His steady breath slows further, indicating he has slipped into a deeper stage of sleep.

Steve exhales breathlessly and closes his eyes. He cringes slightly as he thinks about his empty apartment waiting for him back in Brooklyn. It’s probably weird to think it, but he’s very happy he got stranded at the Moscow airport during a blizzard because he met Bucky. When Bucky first walked over to him, Steve couldn’t help but notice how handsome he is as he took in his casually loose gray T-shirt, black leather jacket, subtly muscular frame, and distracting legs wrapped tightly in long, black jeans.

Bucky has blue-gray eyes, hair long enough to fall over his eyes and tuck behind his ear, a few days worth of stubble, a cleft chin, and perfectly shaped lips. As an artist, Steve took in their symmetry and curved shape and immediately wanted to draw them. Perfect lips and rugged, masculine features. Yes, Bucky has definitely awakened something in Steve’s artistic half.

If Steve’s being completely honest with himself, Bucky’s also awakened something in his more passionate side. The side ruled by his heart. As he discovered how easy it was to talk to Bucky, as though they’d known each other for years, instead of just a few short hours, he found himself feeling very comfortable with him. He’s had dates and even entire relationships that haven’t made him feel as relaxed as he’s felt with Bucky.

Steve is very conscious of the arm he has wrapped around Bucky. He’s also very conscious of the fact that he wants to wrap both arms around him and never let go.

He sighs heavily and at last, drifts off into sleep.

 

\--

 

Bucky wakes enough to bask in his warm surroundings. There’s a hard wall of heat in front of his nose, and a warm, heavy pressure wrapping around his torso. He smells the familiar smell of his travel blanket as well as another newer, but still familiar smell in the fabric against his nose. He nuzzles against it sleepily and falls back to sleep.

 

\--

 

Bucky wakes slowly from his deep sleep. There’s a weak light above him, where the air is colder. So he tries to burrow down into the dark and the warmth, but then he realizes there are strong arms wrapped around him. His eyes fly open and he goes rigid. In his sleep, Steve slides his hands down Bucky’s back just a fraction of an inch, but it’s almost enough to make Bucky shiver though he isn’t even slightly cold. He also nuzzles the top of Bucky’s head affectionately, making Bucky melt back against him. _Oh man_. Bucky’s eyes flutter closed.

He’s resting against Steve’s chest and Steve’s arms are wrapped around him underneath his blanket. Steve’s left arm is serving as Bucky’s pillow. His own hands are curled between them against Steve’s chest. The top of the blanket is at the level of Steve’s chin, which is why it goes over Bucky’s head for the most part.

He doesn’t know what to do. He knows what he should probably do, but this feels so perfect, he doesn’t want to disturb it.

Besides, he thinks desperately, he shouldn’t wake Steve up just to move away from him: that would be rude. He blinks open his eyes to assess the light streaming in from over the blanket. It still looks pretty weak, so either it’s still too early, or the blizzard is still too strong. He doesn’t hear any announcements or really anyone moving around the deserted airport, it’s probably too early still. Either way, it doesn’t seem like there’s been a change in their stranded status.

He’s still tired enough from his travels that he drifts back into that halfway state of sleep where he’s resting, but thinks he’d be aware enough to hear an announcement over the speakers.

Eventually, Steve takes in a long, deep breath and Bucky thinks he’s woken up. He opens his eyes and is just about to pull away when Steve tightens his hold around him.  Bucky lets out a small gasp of surprise and Steve pulls back right away.

“I’m sorry!” Steve tries to pull away, but Bucky smiles happily up at him as he takes in Steve’s embarrassed state and gently touches the arm Steve lifted off him.

“Thanks for keeping me warm,” Bucky murmurs.

Steve’s worried expression softens at that and he stops trying to squirm away. They were half-hearted attempts at best: he didn’t move his arm because Bucky’s still resting on it. Bucky realizes this and lifts his head so Steve can get his arm back. A look of regret passes over Steve’s features before he quickly tries for a neutral expression. However, he fails at that because Bucky’s bedhead and his still sleepy expression are too adorable and he ends up smiling widely as Bucky slowly sits up and looks around the waiting area.

“You’re welcome.” Steve murmurs back. “Did you sleep alright?” He asks more alertly.

Bucky stops blearily eyeing their surroundings and looks at Steve as he realizes, that yes, he did sleep very well. “Umm, yeah actually,” he softly chuckles and tucks a few strands of hair behind his ear. “How did you sleep?”

“I slept great. Thanks.” Steve feels warm at the memory of their cozy, peaceful night. He pulls Bucky’s blanket off of himself for the most part, but the blanket is still tangled under their legs.

They look at each other, their expressions a bit lost, before they move their legs and fold up the blanket. Bucky packs it away as Steve pulls his glasses out of his bag and slips them back on.

“Hey, how about I get us breakfast since you got our food last night?” Steve offers.

Bucky just stares at him, mouth slightly open, eyes soaking in Steve’s cute face and ruffled blond hair, thoughts tragically derailing. The glasses make his eyes look bigger, magnifying his sweet, innocent expression and-- _wait_ , Bucky’s heart starts pounding wildly as he sees there’s also green bursts of color around the center of soft blue irises.

Steve’s brow furrows as he waits for an answer. “Buck?” He asks with concern.

Bucky’s eyes widen slightly at that and he realizes he was staring again. “Oh yeah! Of course! Yes, I’ll uh. . . stay here and guard our area.” He offers quickly.

Steve gets to his feet and feels his pockets, checking for his wallet. “Great. What would you like?”

“Uh . . . a milk and a muffin please, anything but bran.” Bucky says weakly.

“Are you sure you don’t want a breakfast sandwich or something?” Steve asks.

“No, I’ll be fine with that. Maybe orange juice too?” Bucky looks up at Steve, smiling shyly for a change.

Steve’s responding smile is blinding. “You got it. I’ll be back.”

Bucky stares at the ground as Steve leaves, then can’t help watching the powerful man walk away. Before Steve disappears from his line of sight, Bucky drops his head into his hands and rubs his face tiredly.

 _Get a grip, you’re gonna freak him out. What happened to being cool?_ He wonders miserably.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Sorry for the delay in updating, school is crazy! Also, I forgot to mention, the story is not beta'd, so I apologize for any mistakes.
> 
> For the record, I have no idea what actually happens when flights are delayed because of snow.
> 
> Warning for Lilo and Stitch spoilers? Hopefully everyone has seen it. :)

Steve can’t resist turning to look at Buck before he disappears around a corner. Bucky’s rubbing his face with his hands. _Aw. He’s so tired_ , Steve thinks. _When I get back, I’ll suggest he try to get some rest before our flight._ Speaking of. . . He swings by the monitors to check flight information.

Their flight is still delayed with no updates, but at least it isn’t cancelled. Steve feels relief at first, then happiness, then guilt that he’s pleased about their stranded situation. But. . . it looks like there’s a chance they won’t get a flight today either. Steve looks out the airport windows apprehensively, not sure if he’d rather see chaotic winds and snow, or sunny skies. His heart starts hammering joyfully and he can’t help the satisfied smile that forms on his lips at the sight that greets him: barely any wind, but a steady downpour of snow. The snowstorm is still in full force, but it doesn’t look like it is moving as rapidly as it had been the previous day, almost as if it settled directly over the airport to drop all of its snow there.

Steve stops at the men’s room to put his contacts back in and to brush his teeth before he gets in line at the coffee shop. While he waits, he checks the weather online to confirm his theory and his selfish wishes are granted: the storm won’t be clearing out until tomorrow morning at the earliest.

He tries to dispel his smile and calm the butterflies fluttering energetically in his rib cage, but after a second of resistance, he decides, _What the heck? Just let it happen._ He smiles widely at the barista and orders food for him and Bucky. He’ll just focus on enjoying whatever time he has left with Bucky. And thankfully, it looks like they actually have a lot of time left together. He almost rubs his hands together evilly.

As he waits for his order, he zones out, happily daydreaming about all the possibilities for quality time with Buck. Steve thinks he probably looks like the grinning devil emoji by the time his order is filled, but it doesn’t bother him. All he can think about, besides Bucky’s gorgeous smile (a.k.a. his beautiful lips), is, _Yay!_

 

\--

 

A smiling Steve returns with milk, orange juice, and a double chocolate muffin for Bucky. He hands Bucky his paper bag and beverages before he sits down beside him. Steve basks in the smell of his coffee before taking a sip. He looks over at Bucky, who is opening his pastry bag. Bucky’s mouth falls open with a surprised smile, which he ecstatically turns on Steve.

“Oh my God! This is perfect! Thank you,” Bucky says, practically beaming.

Steve smiles with relief at Bucky’s words. “You’re welcome,” he says softly.

They smile at each other for one charged moment before each man drops his gaze and smiles at his meal instead.

Steve fishes out a sandwich from the depths of his paper bag and unwraps it. As he eats, he pulls out his tablet to check the news. After a cursory glance at the headlines, he sets aside the tablet and the two finish their meal in companionable silence, Bucky quietly savoring each chocolate chip he encounters like a kid with an ice cream sundae, even happily bouncing his left foot.

When Steve is finished with his sandwich and is just sipping the last of his coffee, he tells Bucky about their flight. “Oh hey, I checked the monitors before I got our food and there’s isn’t an update. It’s still just says ‘delayed.’”

“Oh,” Bucky blinks, reluctantly looking out the window. Frankly, Bucky had almost forgotten about the storm. He knew they were stuck in this airport, but Steve’s sunny mood and smile had made him forget all about the blizzard raging on outside. Sure enough, swirls of snowflakes are steadily falling into countless hills of snow all over the airport tarmac.

“And I checked the weather and it doesn’t look like the storm will clear out until tomorrow morning at the earliest.” Steve continues, trying his best to sound matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” Bucky whispers and turns back to look at Steve with a lost expression. At Steve’s words, Bucky felt his stomach swoop again, like when he first found out his flight had been delayed, but this time, it wasn’t because of the delay, it was due to thinking he might spend another day and maybe another--his breath hitches--another perfect night on the hard airport floor with Steve. The furrow in his brow grows deeper as he tries to say, “That sucks.” It doesn’t come out.

“Guess you’re stuck here with me,” he says instead, and he tries to fight it, but his lips twitch into a smile as he unknowingly leans closer to Steve and stares into his eyes with unfiltered affection.

“How awful,” Steve tries to joke back, but in the end, the two smile at each other like fools. Steve sucks in a shaky breath at the intense, adoring way Bucky is staring up at him. The gulp of air provides Steve’s brain with some much needed oxygen and he has a thought.

 “Do you want to watch a movie?” he asks, weakly trying to blink away the stars that must’ve formed in his eyes.

Bucky’s adoring eyes grow wider, as does his smile. “Yes,” he breathes. But then he gets self-conscious at the thought of being in Steve’s space again. “But uh, first I’m gonna go stretch my legs and use the restroom.”

“Sure,” Steve replies, turning on his tablet again.

Bucky grabs his bag and their trash and nearly runs to the bathroom. _Aww yiss_ , he thinks to himself as he washes his face. He stares at himself in the mirror as he runs his hands through his hair. Well that can’t be helped, but who knows? _Maybe it’s attractive?_ He tucks an errant strand behind his ear. Then, he inspects his facial hair. _Ugh_ , he thinks with irritation. Well hopefully he looks like a _hot_ homeless guy. Steve somehow has much less stubble than Bucky does. He probably shaved right before arriving at the airport. Next, Bucky meticulously brushes his teeth and rinses with mouthwash. He checks his teeth in the mirror. _Clear_. Last, he reapplies deodorant and changes his shirt to a cleaner forest green T-shirt. He debates splashing on some cologne, but decides it would be too much.

_Not bad_ , he thinks to himself, taking in his slightly cleaner appearance. He slings his bag over his shoulder and backs up toward the exit, giving his reflection finger guns and blowing out the smoke before turning around and exiting the bathroom.

Steve is looking through his library of movies on his tablet when Bucky returns. He looks up and greets him, “Hey you!”

“Hey,” Bucky replies, trying to keep the almost nervous excitement from his tone.

When Bucky settles back into his spot on the floor, Steve hands Bucky his tablet and gets to his feet. “Check out which movie you want to watch. I’ll be right back.”

Bucky studiously looks down at the tablet before sneakily watching Steve walk away again. _Mwahaha,_ he thinks to himself. _Okay, now down to business. Should I pick something cute?_ If they were at the movie theatre, he’d probably pick something scary to encourage Steve to clutch onto him in fear. Bucky gets lost in thought as he remembers waking up in Steve’s embrace.

“Did you pick something?” Steve asks, jolting Bucky out of his thoughts.

“Oh! Uhh. Not yet.” Bucky mumbles as he hurriedly swipes through a few more choices, not even reading the titles.

Steve sits down beside Bucky and scoots closer until they’re sitting shoulder to shoulder--well, not exactly shoulder to shoulder, more like shoulder to masterfully crafted deltoid. Regardless, Bucky notes that Steve’s shoulder is at the perfect height for him to easily and comfortably rest his head on.

Bucky makes sure their legs are touching before he moves the tablet over from his lap to be on top of his right leg and Steve’s left leg. Together, they scroll through the movies. Bucky can’t help but notice that Steve smells mintier than when he left. He also has a wide variety of movies, from documentaries to rom-coms, and thrillers to kids’ movies.

“What are you in the mood for?” Steve asks, leaning in and sending a wave of fresh-smelling breath over Bucky as he scrolls through “family” movies. The scent makes him think of things he might be in the mood for. . . _Come on, Barnes, he just wants to watch a movie. Get it together_. He waits for a brilliant movie suggestion to occur to him, but his brain doesn’t cooperate, so he just picks the next movie he sees.

“Hmm, I haven’t seen that in a few years,” Bucky points at _Lilo and Stitch_ , proud of how casual he sounds.

Steve gasps. “Ah! Ok, we have to watch that then.” He brings up the movie and they settle in to watch it. Throughout the film, Bucky starts leaning his head on Steve’s shoulder more and more heavily. Steve definitely notices this and considers resting his head on top of Bucky’s when--

_“Yes. Yes, that’s it. Come quietly,” Jumba mutters._

_“Mm. . . Waiting,” Stitch croaks hopelessly._

_“For what?” Jumba questions._

_“Family.”_

_“Ah. . .. you don’t have one. I made you,” Jumba states without emotion._

_Stitch makes a pained noise. “Maybe I could. . .”_

_“You’re built to destroy. You can never belong,” Stitch looks down miserably as Jumba continues. “Now come quietly and we will take you apart.”_

Bucky sniffles loudly. Steve quickly looks down at him with concern. “Buck?”

Bucky looks up from the screen and meets Steve’s gaze, tears swimming in his eyes and lips pouting in a small, trembling frown. “But he is good!” He wails wetly and a few tears spill over and run down his cheeks. Steve immediately reaches over with his right hand to wipe the tears from Bucky’s face and clucks sympathetically. In doing so, he turns his body towards him and with the small sign of comfort, gives Bucky permission to cry harder as he leans into Steve’s touch. Steve hugs him and soothingly rubs his back. Bucky gratefully wraps one arm around Steve’s surprisingly slim waist and uses his other hand to try and wipe away any possible snot.

“Yeah, he is,” Steve whispers into Bucky’s hair. And by God, Steve starts to fall in love with Bucky.

_He is soooo sweet_ , Steve thinks to himself.

Bucky sniffs again and pulls back slightly to say, “Sorry. It’s just, he’s changed so much since he first arrived on Earth. And for Jumba to say that. . .” He looks away with an angry scowl. “It just made me mad.” Then he pouts again, looking back into Steve’s eyes. “He _is_ good,” He repeats with conviction.

Steve smiles kindly down at him, aware that his own eyes have teared up, and gently wipes away another tear with his thumb as he holds Bucky’s face, wondering how he got lucky enough to meet this phenomenal person, “Yes, he is.” His expression softens further with sympathy. “Do you still want to watch it?”

“Yes, I want to see him stick it to the Galactic Federation,” Bucky says spitefully.

Steve laughs at that, “Okay.”

They sit back to keep watching the movie, but though Steve pulls back from their hug and lets go of Bucky’s face, he leaves one arm wrapped around Bucky’s back and Bucky leaves his right arm around Steve’s waist. Bucky adjusts to comfortably sit in Steve’s embrace, a small smile on his lips now that he’s being coddled so satisfyingly. Steve rests his head on top of Bucky’s and the rest of the movie goes by more quickly than either of them would like. Pretty soon--

_“My name Stitch,” Stitch supplies helpfully._

_"Stitch, then,” the Councilwoman says dismissively. “If it wasn’t for Stitch. . .” She trails off._

 " _Does Stitch have to go in the ship?” Stitch asks as he gestures toward the spaceship with his handcuffed hands._

 At this, Bucky quietly makes a pained noise, so Steve soothingly rubs his arm.

 " _Yes,” the Councilwoman says thoughtfully._

  _“Can Stitch say good-bye?” Stitch asks._

 Bucky feels his bottom lip tremble with an impending sob.

  _“Yes,” the Councilwoman repeats, sounding unsure this time._

  _“Thank you,” Stitch says as he walks down the ramp towards his family. Stitch sits in the sand by Lilo in lieu of a hug, but Lilo hugs him because he can’t hug her._

  _“Who are you?” the Councilwoman asks them._

  _“This is my family. I found it all on my own,” Stitch answers proudly. “It’s little and broken. . . But still good.” He looks at Lilo and Nani adoringly. “Yeah. Still good.” He looks at them one more time before walking back toward the ship._

Bucky makes a funny squeak as he cries again. “That’s so beautiful!” He sticks his face into Steve’s chest before realizing that he’s probably going to get his tears on Steve’s shirt. Seeing as he immediately opens his arms to hug him, Steve doesn’t seem to share the fear of tears on his shirt. But Bucky pulls back and realizes that though Steve is still wearing his white hoodie, he changed his light blue shirt to a white, tight-fitting one. The tight shirt valiantly fights its own demise to cover his broad chest and easily shows off his many muscles. Bucky looks up at Steve and sees that he is already looking down at him, at his lips to be more precise. Bucky curls said lips into a smile and blinks tears away as he fights the urge to just close the small space between them and kiss Steve. Steve sucks in a small breath as he looks away from Bucky’s perfect lips and into his light, blue-gray eyes, glistening with tears.

He holds Steve’s gaze and thinks. . . Even if Steve wanted to kiss him back-- _which he does_ , Bucky’s mind insists, it _is_ the second time he’s caught him looking at his lips--Bucky doesn’t think he’d appreciate his snotty nose near him.

_Besides_ , Bucky thinks, _I can do better than a wet, salty kiss_.

So he leans back a bit more, asking, “Do you want to watch another movie?”

Steve sounds a bit shaky when he answers, “Yes, I’d love to.” He draws in another more steadying breath. “But I’m kind of hungry. I wish we had popcorn.”

“Yeah, that’d be awesome,” Bucky agrees. He reluctantly pulls back the arm he has wrapped around Steve to dig in his bag. Steve also pulls back his arm, much to Bucky’s dismay, but when he pulls out his bag of Teddy Grahams and offers them to Steve, he’s treated to a delighted smile.

“Oh my God,” Steve laughs and takes a handful of bears and tosses them into his mouth. “Mmm,” He hums happily at the taste.

They go through Steve’s movie collection again and choose _The Dark Knight Rises_. Steve starts to put his arm around Bucky again, unthinkingly so, if his pause of hesitation--as though he’s surprised himself--is anything to go by, so Bucky quickly leans into him. Steve relaxes then and properly cuddles with Bucky.

They quickly get through the Teddy Grahams and halfway through the movie, Bucky starts dozing off. Steve realizes this and has a thought that hadn’t occurred to him before. . . Bucky’s been travelling for longer than he has. He said he’d been visiting his babushka in some rural town that he had to take a bus to. Steve looks down at Bucky, who is sleeping soundly against him.

He would probably really benefit from a good night’s sleep in a real bed. Why didn’t they think about looking for a hotel when they realized the storm would continue for another night?

Granted, the nearby hotels are probably already full. But that doesn’t mean they can’t try. Steve pauses the movie and runs a search for the nearby hotels, but then he hesitates: it shows online that the largest hotels are already booked, but maybe there is a small mom-and-pop type of hotel that doesn’t use online booking that still has a room? Or maybe one of the larger chain hotels has ONE room available that wouldn’t show up online. _Or two_ , he thinks belatedly, unsure how it would sound if he asked Bucky if he wanted to leave the airport to find a room together.

But he can’t call and ask, his limited Russian is terrible. He’ll have to wake Bucky or wait until he wakes up. He looks out the window, sees how dark it looks even though it’s still fairly early. He shudders to think of how it would feel to be out in that cold. One side of his mouth pulls down into a frown. Maybe they would be safer if they just stayed indoors. But another glance at Bucky changes his mind: Bucky deserves some quality sleep.

“Hey, Buck,” Steve whispers.

Bucky frowns before opening his eyes. “Huh? . . . Oh,” he sits up a bit as he realizes he fell asleep. “I’m sorry I fell asleep,” he mumbles.

“It’s okay,” Steve says softly. “Maybe we should check if any of the nearby hotels have any rooms available?” He suggests, careful with his wording.

Bucky instantly feels more alert, heart pounding as he thinks of being alone with Steve. He gulps, _that’s not what Steve meant_. “Oh,” he says, small furrow appearing between his brows. “Yeah, I guess it’s worth a shot.”

_Huh. Why didn’t I think of that? . . . . being in a hotel room with Steve. . ._ Bucky promptly gets lost in sexy daydreams. _Oh, that’s why._

Bucky tries to shoo away spicy thoughts as Steve brings up contact information for the hotels nearest the airport. _Focus_. Now’s his time to impress Steve with his Russian. Sure enough, the first five hotels they call are completely full. The sixth one, one of the larger hotels that’s on this street, albeit the farthest one, has one room with a single bed left.

“Maybe they have a roll in bed?” Steve asks when Bucky tells him what the host said.

Bucky does his best to translate. He listens for a second and then quietly shakes his head at Steve.

“Ugh,” Steve complains. “Does it at least have its own bathroom?”

Bucky speaks to the hotel employee and then nods at Steve.

“Well that’s fine then, I can sleep on the floor,” Steve offers. Bucky makes a face at him as if to say he’s being ridiculous, but he doesn’t say anything to him, just continues talking on the phone, giving the employee his information in order to reserve the room. Steve starts to protest when Bucky pulls a credit card out of his wallet.

“It’s just to reserve the room,” Bucky tells him and starts relaying information from his credit card in Russian.

Steve backs off then and looks around their spot. _Okay, I guess we’re moving_ . He turns toward his belongings, opens his small carry-on luggage and pulls out a thick, gray peacoat and a navy scarf. When he slips off his hoodie, he notices Bucky isn’t speaking anymore and figures he’s finished his phone call, so he turns back to ask for a full update. But when he looks at Bucky, Bucky’s just staring at him with his mouth slightly open. Steve looks at him inquisitively and Bucky blinks, then looks almost embarrassed and keeps reading numbers off his card. _Huh,_ Steve thinks, taking in Bucky’s blush. Steve turns back to his belongings, pulls on the peacoat, and ties the scarf around his neck. He checks the time on his tablet one last time, it’s almost two in the afternoon, and stows it in the suitcase, carefully setting his folded sweater on top of it. It would be just like him to break his tablet by falling as soon as they get out into the snow. On second thought, he digs in his suitcase again and pulls out some boots that will do better in the snow than his sneakers. He switches shoes, then zips the suitcase closed and brings his duffel bag closer. He looks at Bucky, ready to go.

Bucky’s eyes are closed and he has one finger on his temple as he speaks on the phone, with less energy than before, looking frustrated by all accounts. Steve puts his hand on Bucky’s shoulder and massages it lightly. Bucky opens his eyes then and takes his hand off his face, looking at Steve as though mollified by Steve’s affection. Steve smiles kindly at him, absolutely grateful for Bucky and his killer Russian language skills.

\--

_Oh God,_ Bucky thinks. It’s just like Steve to affectionately sooth him when he’s feeling like an idiot for getting caught staring at Steve, _again_ . But the way his back muscles were moving as he took off his hoodie was just way too distracting. _How am I going to survive sharing a bedroom with him?_ Bucky wonders as he hangs up the phone.

“Alright, we’re all set,” he weakly smiles at Steve before getting his things together. He pulls out a parka sealed in a space bag. He sighs before opening the bag. _That’s gonna be a pain to roll up again_. He takes off his leather jacket and throws it in his suitcase. He pulls on his thick blue parka feeling like a little kid beside Steve, whose stubble is more pronounced now and combined with his light gray coat that makes his blue eyes stand out? He basically looks like a model.

“Great. Thanks for setting that up, Bucky,” Steve says cheerfully, getting to his feet and slinging his duffel bag on his shoulder.

“You’re welcome,” Bucky replies, feeling pleased with himself. He gets to his feet as well, slips on his messenger bag, and takes one last look at their spot as they make their way toward the airport entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
> Also, Bucky/Stitch = all the feels.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. I added more tags. Please let me know if there are any more I should add.

The moment Steve and Bucky step out the doors, they look at each other, surprised by just how cold it is. They step closer to each other before continuing. They drag their suitcases through the snow, leaving behind thick trails that erase most of their footsteps.

The street is deserted. Cars are half-buried beneath all the feet of snow that have fallen in the past day. By the time they get to the end of the first block, they’ve only seen one car driving slowly by and haven’t run into anybody. Faintly, they can see kids playing in the snow almost three blocks down the road. Truly, the whole scene is much more cheerful than it looked from inside the airport. Neither man can help smiling as they make their way to the hotel. 

About five doors down the second block, they look into a shop that actually has its lights on. There’s a man sitting on a stool behind the cash register watching a small TV. They try the door and it opens, so they walk inside.

The clerk greets them and Bucky replies. They walk around the store, filling their arms with snacks and food that doesn’t require heating. In the end, they spend less on the pile of snacks than they would have on just one meal inside the airport. When they exit the store, they stuff their bag of goodies into Steve’s duffle bag since it has the most room. 

They keep walking down the road, now just four blocks from the hotel. The kids aren’t playing outside anymore and snow has begun falling more earnestly, making it difficult to see too far ahead. It’s like they’ve walked out into their own private winter wonderland. 

“I gotta say, this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Bucky says, waving his hand to indicate the snowflakes that swirl around them.

“Yeah, it’s actually kind of nice,” Steve agrees, digging his free hand into his pocket and adjusting his grip on his suitcase for lack of anything better to do.

“It kind of reminds me of--” Bucky doesn’t get to finish his sentence because he slips on a patch of compacted snow. He lets go of his suitcase as his arms automatically shoot out in front of him in an attempt to regain his balance, but it’s too late. As he falls backwards, Steve shouts, “Buck!” and tries to catch him. 

He lets go of his own suitcase and tries to grab Bucky’s back with his left hand and Bucky’s left hand with his right. He gets a good grip on his hand and pulls, wrapping his left arm behind Buck, which brings him closer, but only because Steve loses his footing as well and falls into the snow with Bucky. He tugs on Bucky’s hand with enough force that instead of just landing side by side in the snow, Steve actually lands first with Bucky clutched tightly to his chest.

It’s difficult to say who looks more surprised as snowflakes flutter around them like they’re in a snowglobe: upwards from the ground and in flurries from the sky. Bucky blinks, completely shocked to not be lying flat on his back. Instead, he’s treated to the delightful feel of Steve’s arm wrapped tightly around him, pressing him hard against his massive chest and the warm feel of Steve’s hand, somehow still hot despite his lack of gloves, gripping his left hand in the snow.

He’s also treated to the pleasant sight of one very shocked Steve, just inches away from his own face. There are clumps of snowflakes in his hair and his eyes are wide with shock. His full, pink lips part as he gasps slightly, both dazed by the fall and by Bucky’s adorably disheveled appearance: loose locks of dark brown hair frame his face, his blue-gray eyes stand out like gems against the snowy sky, and his perfect lips are almost red.

Bucky sees Steve’s baby blue eyes flit down to look at his lips,  _ again _ .

_ Three _ , Bucky thinks to himself, tiny smirk pulling up one side of his lips as he leans down to press them to Steve’s. 

_ Oh my God _ , Bucky marvels at the fullness of Steve’s lips, softer and more perfect than he ever could’ve imagined. Butterflies fill his stomach as he grips Steve’s hand in the snow, interlacing their fingers. He frees the hand he has pinned between them to hold Steve’s face as he moves his lips against his. Steve slides his hand up Bucky’s back to tangle his fingers in his hair, clutching him closer and gripping Bucky’s left hand in return. He perfectly mirrors Bucky’s movements as though they’ve done this before, prompting Bucky to kiss him more urgently. Tiny breathless sounds escape the pair as they kiss on the snowy sidewalk. 

Eventually though, they hear a car approaching in the distance and reluctantly pry apart. Bucky pulls back, lips flushed red, pupils slightly dilated, absentmindedly tucking strands of hair behind his ear as he appreciates Steve’s rosy look: blush on his cheeks, lips now bright pink. Steve looks up at him in wonder, looking absolutely winded. 

Bucky can’t resist pressing another small kiss to Steve’s lips, which makes Steve blissfully shut his eyes again, before he gets off of Steve as gracefully as possible, careful not to let his bag hit him, and then offers Steve a hand to help him up. Steve takes his hand and gets up. They smile at each other for a moment as though still processing what just happened. At the same time, they both grab their suitcases, turn towards the hotel again and start walking, Steve grabbing Bucky’s hand. Bucky looks up at Steve with a thrilled smile. Steve looks down at him, still blushing with a small smile, so Bucky makes a point of walking closer to him. His proximity seems to put Steve at ease and the rest of their walk flies by.

They arrive at the hotel more quickly than seems fair. Bucky would certainly like to keep walking in the snow if it means he can keep holding Steve’s hand and maybe dive into some piles of snow to make out. But, as they open the hotel’s door and walk inside, they let go of each other and Bucky goes to the receptionist to check in. Steve stands beside him and looks around the small lobby, gaze lingering on the snowy courtyard visible through a window opposite the front desk. They’re able to check in quickly, each paying their half, and sooner than either of them are prepared for, they’re making their way to their room. 

It feels a little more intimidating now that they’ve kissed. Before, Bucky thought it was possible that they could cuddle during the night and that it could potentially escalate into more. Now though, one daydream has already come true. 

_ How many more will come true? _ Bucky’s stomach swoops with nerves and anticipation at the thought.

Bucky unlocks their room’s door and they step inside, staying close to the door as they take in the tiny space. It has a window overlooking the street on the right wall, a radiator right under the window, no TV, a lamp on the nightstand, a single bed up against the wall opposite the window, a small closet near the door, and a bathroom. Bucky sets his luggage right in front of the small closet and goes to look out the window. Steve sets his stuff down as well and then seems to hesitate. Bucky looks back at him with a tentative smile. Steve gives him a genuine smile in return but doesn’t say anything.

“I’m gonna grab a shower if you don’t mind,” Bucky says. 

“No, of course,” Steve replies, bending down to get his tablet and phone out of his suitcase. He sits on the bed and tries to connect to the hotel’s WiFi. Meanwhile, Bucky gathers the things he’ll need and goes into the bathroom, closing the door behind him with a sigh.  _ Oh man _ , he thinks. He starts the water and thankfully it heats up nicely. 

 

\--

 

Before he exits the bathroom, he puts on flannel pajama bottoms and a black T-shirt. When he walks back into the room, Steve looks up at him and smiles. Bucky returns the smile and puts his towel around his neck.

“I’m gonna shower too, if you’re done with the bathroom,” Steve says politely.

“Yeah, I am. Go ahead,” Bucky says, starting to towel dry his hair. He hears the bathroom door close, so he sits at the foot of the bed. After he finishes drying his hair, he hangs the towel on the radiator to dry, just in case he wants to shower in the morning. 

He sits on the bed and lies down. To his relief, it’s comfortable enough and smells clean. He stares at the ceiling while he waits for Steve to come out of the bathroom.

 

\--

 

Steve exits the bathroom wearing only black boxers. Bucky must gasp with surprise, amazed at the perfect specimen of a man before him, because Steve smiles at him cheerfully. Bucky sits up. Steve casually throws his stuff on top his bags, not taking his eyes off Bucky, and slowly stalks toward the bed, making Bucky feel like prey. Lucky, lucky prey.

Steve reaches him and bends down to kiss him. Bucky melts into the kiss, leaning back to lie on the bed. Steve follows him, bracing his hands on either side of him. Before he crawls onto the bed though, he pulls back, leaving Bucky to mourn the loss, slowly blinking his eyes open when he doesn’t feel Steve’s lips again. Steve smirks at him and tugs at his shirt. Bucky gets the message and sits up again to allow Steve to remove his shirt. As soon as his shirt is off, Steve dives back into the kiss, following Bucky when he lies down again, straddling him. They kiss almost feverishly, Bucky enjoying the feeling of Steve’s plush lips crushing him into the pillow. He slides his hands up Steve’s sides, whimpering quietly at the bounty of muscles his hands encounter. Steve swallows his whimpers and licks his bottom lip: asking for permission. Bucky happily grants him access, parting his lips, and panting against Steve’s open mouth. Steve slides his tongue into Bucky’s mouth at the same time that he rolls his hips against him, stroking his tongue and eliciting a surprised moan. 

_ Oh God _ . Bucky can feel Steve’s erection pressing against his own hardening length. 

_ Fuck.  _ Steve grinds against him, kissing him deeply. Bucky grips the back of Steve’s neck and slides one hand into his soft, damp hair, holding him close. Steve keeps his left hand near Bucky’s side to hold himself up, but he runs his other hand down Bucky’s chest and abs, pausing near the waistband of his pajama bottoms. Bucky grinds ardently against him, silently begging Steve to pull down his pants. He moves one hand from the back of Steve’s neck, down his back, grabbing his ass and urging him closer, tightening his hold in his hair as well. 

He starts to slide his hands down Steve’s boxer shorts to feel his smooth skin when he hears a  **_thump_ ** , startling awake.

Bucky gasps as he wakes up.

“Oh, sorry!” Steve whispers from across the room, crouching near his luggage. He’s wearing a navy muscle shirt and gray sweatpants. He looks like he’d been quietly trying to put his things away while Bucky slept. He picks up a bottle of shampoo from the floor.

Bucky quickly sits up, pulling his knees toward his chest and trying to will away the beginnings of his very real hard on. “It’s okay, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” He tries to slow his breathing. 

“Really, Buck,” Steve says quietly. “Go back to sleep if you’re still tired.” He stands up and looks around the room. “I’ll just uh. . .”

“No, I’m okay,” Bucky says. “I don’t want to nap. I want to be able to sleep through the night.”

“Ah,” Steve replies. “Okay.” He comes over to sit by Bucky. He grabs his tablet off the nightstand and checks the time. “We still have a few hours before we should try to sleep. Do you want to watch another movie?”

“Yeah, sure,” Bucky says eagerly, backing up into the corner and fixing the pillow so they can lean against the wall, sitting side by side to watch the movie. Steve hands him the tablet and gets up to grab their bag of snacks from his duffle bag. He sets the plastic bag on the bed so Bucky can choose some snacks. Bucky goes straight for the packaged pastries. Steve chooses some chips and sets the bag on the nightstand.

Steve picks  _ Horrible Bosses _ . This time, he doesn’t hesitate to wrap one arm around Bucky, which puts a pleased smile on Buck’s face and makes his stomach feel light. The movie is entertaining enough that Bucky doesn’t get sleepy at all. Instead, he’s treated to Steve’s full laugh: he throws his head back and clutches his left pec as he laughs. It’s absolutely adorable. When he’s not laughing like a maniac, he keeps his right arm around Bucky, cuddling him close. Bucky leans happily against him, feeling Steve’s chest vibrate with laughter.

When the movie is over, Bucky crawls off the bed and stretches, looking out the window. It’s getting pretty dark out, but mainly because of the weather. Mid-stretch, he turns back to ask Steve what he wants to do now and catches him quickly looking away from his exposed stomach. Bucky smiles, but takes mercy on Steve and just gets on the bed again to sit cross-legged in front of him.

“So, you didn’t finish telling me what you were doing working here,” Bucky reminds Steve.

Steve smiles at him, flattered that Bucky wants to know more about him. So he tells him about his job. He's a graphic designer and works for a large company that does advertisements, illustrations for books, websites and everything in between. He'd been sent out to a museum here in Russia to research art for a book. 

Bucky smiles at the way Steve lights up talking about his work. It’s obvious he’s passionate about what he does. It’s absolutely adorable and makes Bucky’s heart twitch in a strange way.

Steve looks through his tablet’s folders to show Bucky some of the pieces he’s been working on. Bucky slides through some finished pictures and many other sketches at various stages of progress. Some of them are clearly advertisements or book covers, but many of them look like pieces Steve has done for himself. As he looks through the pieces, Bucky’s expression goes from neutral, to slightly surprised, to a look of pure awe. He stops on a piece that looks like a picture, but clearly isn’t, because one corner is unfinished. 

It’s a portrait of a street, but seen from a fire escape, where presumably, someone is observing the busy scene below. It looks like Brooklyn, the shops at the intersection near the top look vaguely familiar, but he can’t be sure. The street is slightly blurred, but realistically so, the way a camera would capture the scene: focused on the tea cup and potted plants on the fire escape, but still capturing the background beautifully. Bucky looks closely at the drawing. There are many details that are almost too minute to even think to add in a painting, like tiny dew drops on the plant’s leaves that seem to reflect the artist’s surroundings: the open window of an apartment.

“You drew this?” Bucky asks, trying to fathom how someone could possibly draw something so lifelike.

“Yeah,” comes the somewhat hesitant response.

Bucky looks up then, Steve’s been watching Bucky with apprehension this whole time that he’s been looking at his art. 

“This is amazing,” Bucky breathes, meeting Steve’s gaze with his awestruck expression. He watches as Steve looks down with a small smile, long lashes brushing his reddening cheeks, a shade closer to self-conscious than mollified. He seems like he’s about to downplay Bucky’s compliment.

Bucky however, is having none of that. He carefully sets the tablet on the empty bed space beside them and always maintaining eye contact, he crawls forward, intent clear in his heated expression as he closes the space between him and Steve. Steve breathes shallowly, anticipation rising with Bucky’s proximity. His light, embarrassed blush darkens for an entirely different reason as his lips part, body aching for Bucky’s touch. He can’t help thinking of their steamy kiss in the snow, which nearly makes him shudder. The heat of Bucky’s plush lips was a mind-blowing contrast to the cold surrounding them, making Steve hypersensitive to his touch. This memory has him quickly moving forward to meet Bucky’s lips. 

At first, their lips meet gently, as though testing the waters. Their last kiss was all whirlwind and eagerness. This one is almost shy, but purposeful, lips moving slowly and deliberately, like each man is trying to memorize the shape and feel of the other man’s lips. Seconds pass and because both men are leaning forward with their hands on the bed to hold themselves up, the kiss remains innocent but incredibly heated. Bucky wants to reach out to touch Steve, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to change a thing about this kiss. Steve’s lips feel incredibly soft, yet powerful at the same time, moving against his own, making Bucky feel light-headed in a most pleasant way.

Eventually, Bucky’s brain catches up to his body and he becomes aware of the gravity of the situation. They’re alone. They’re on a bed. Nothing will interrupt this kiss. This thought gives him an extra burst of excitement and he pulls on Steve’s bottom lip, earning himself a tiny,  _ nnh _ . A whimper, a barely-there moan. 

That small noise emanating from this sculpture of a man makes Bucky’s blood rush, particularly to certain areas. Suddenly, he breaks their kiss and pulls back, trying to catch his breath. He looks at Steve as though shocked by the intensity of their kiss. Somehow, Steve looks equally taken aback, and that does Bucky in, because it makes him realize that Steve is feeling the same thing he is.

He dives back into the kiss, brushing Steve’s lips with more force this time. He pushes Steve back against the wall and crawls into his lap. Steve immediately wraps his arms around him, sliding one hand down Bucky’s back to his hip, gripping Bucky’s hair with the other. Bucky is careful not to press himself flush to Steve’s body. It’s not that he doesn’t want to get that close to him, his desire to have more than just something physical with Steve is simply greater. So, with the intention of taking things slow, he keeps one hand on Steve’s shoulder and uses the other to hold the back of Steve’s neck.

Bucky pulls back to look at Steve: he wants to make sure this isn’t too much. Steve looks incredibly turned on, but he looks into Bucky’s eyes as though he’s not sure where this is going either. A moment passes as they look into each other’s eyes, then they lean back into to kiss each other as though something has been decided. Their lips part for an impassioned kiss, tongues swiping in to taste the other.

_ Steve tastes amazing _ , is all Bucky can think as his stomach makes him feel like he’s falling. And he is, he’s totally falling for Steve, he can see that now. This tall, beefy blond isn’t just some hot guy he’d like to get naked with, he’s a kind, intelligent and incredibly talented man that Bucky would like to date.

Steve quietly moans into Bucky’s mouth, savoring his taste, committing it to memory. Then he briefly sucks on Bucky’s lip before he readjusts his grip on him to shift them down towards the foot of the bed. Without taking his lips off of Bucky or opening his eyes, he pats the bed until he feels his tablet, quickly setting it on the nightstand and carefully moving Bucky so they’re lying side by side. Bucky’s thrilled by the impressive display of strength, gripping Steve’s hair tighter and sighing against his lips, forgetting completely about his resolution to take things slow. Steve kisses Bucky deeply, stroking his tongue with his own, rolling Bucky onto his back and leaning over him. 

_ Fuck _ , Bucky’s mouth feels sublime, but with great effort, Steve keeps their hips apart. He would love to grind his hips against Bucky’s right now, but he doesn’t want this possibly turning into a one night stand type of situation. When Bucky doesn’t try to push things further, Steve relaxes a bit, certain he’s read the situation correctly. He gently cups one side of Bucky’s face, reveling in the perfection of this moment: Bucky’s irresistible lips, his wonderful taste, and his relaxed form beneath him.

Bucky can’t help whimpering almost silently at the feel of Steve’s mouth moving languidly against his, Steve’s comforting weight over him, and the delicate way he’s holding one side of his face. But he responds to Steve’s calmer disposition, moving his lips more slowly, relaxing further onto the bed with Steve’s tender movements. They continue like that for endless minutes, kissing almost lazily, neither man realizing that the sun set long ago.

Eventually, Steve breaks their kiss to look down at Bucky, whose lips are swollen and bright red. Steve draws in a breath. He’ll be drawing those lips, and certainly dreaming of them, for years to come.

Bucky slowly opens his eyes, a small smile on his lips as he looks up at Steve adoringly.

“That was. . .” he begins shakily.

“Yeah,” Steve agrees breathlessly.

They look at each other for another moment, both of them glancing at the other’s mouth before Steve rolls onto his back, careful not to fall off the bed, and Bucky sits up, looking out the window. It’s dark outside, with only a faint orange glow from the streetlights several floors below.

“Oh, wow. What time is it?” Bucky asks, lying back down.

Steve checks his phone. “It’s almost 9.” He sets his phone back on the nightstand and gets on his side, looking at Bucky. “What do you wanna do now? Try to sleep?”

Bucky thinks about this for a few seconds. Frankly, it’s difficult to think straight after kissing Steve. “Mmm, maybe. But I definitely want to get under the covers. It’s kind of cold.” Or maybe he just misses Steve’s warmth already. He looks at Steve, “Are you okay with sharing the bed?”

Steve smiles warmly at him. “Yes, I’d like that.”

“Okay,” Bucky says as they both get off the bed to pull down the covers. Bucky crawls back into the spot he’d just vacated, adjusting the pillow so he can rest his head on it. Steve gets into the bed too and lies on his side, bending his arm to support his head with his hand. Bucky slides closer and wraps one arm around Steve, closing his eyes.

Steve looks down at Bucky’s peaceful expression. He could be asleep, except he keeps running his fingers along Steve’s back, tracing random patterns along the acres of muscle. Steve closes his eyes for a moment to bask in the relaxing movement of Bucky’s hands. He keeps playing with Bucky’s hair, tucking soft strands behind his ear.

“Hey,” he whispers softly. “When we get back, do you think you’d want to have dinner with me?”

Bucky’s lips pull up into a smile as he opens his eyes.

“Like a date?” Bucky grins excitedly.

This time, Steve doesn’t hesitate at all. “Yes.”

Bucky seems delighted by Steve’s confidence. “Yes, of course. I’d love to.” He sits up to kiss Steve again. Steve holds the back of Bucky’s head and draws out the chaste kiss for a few minutes, careful not to get too riled up. Through the kiss, Bucky sighs happily. Steve pulls back, adoring the way Bucky looks so relaxed, so blissful, lips still swollen from kissing. Bucky plants another innocent kiss on Steve’s lips and lies back down.

Steve kisses Bucky’s forehead, eliciting another smile, though Bucky keeps his eyes closed this time. Bucky’s peaceful expression does funny things to Steve’s heart. After a minute of watching him, Steve turns off the lamp and moves down to put his head on his half of the pillow.

Bucky falls asleep quickly, and it warms Steve’s heart that Bucky could trust him so completely and be comfortable enough with him to drift off to sleep so easily. In his sleep, Bucky turns around to face the wall. Steve holds him close and nuzzles his nose into the back of Bucky’s neck, reveling in the fresh scent of his hair. 

As Steve starts to doze off, Bucky moves again, curling up, and in the process, pressing his butt against Steve’s crotch. Steve’s eyelids fly open as the contact causes a rapid migration of blood to his dick.

_ Oh _ . 

Bucky stops moving then. Steve curses mentally. He moves his hips back a few inches and tries to think of anything to stop the blood flow, but then he fucks up--he thinks about his shower earlier. 

The hot water had felt amazing after their trek through the snow. However, once he relaxed, he couldn’t help thinking about how Bucky’s lips had felt in the snow. Immediately, his cock had started filling with blood. He quickly tried to distract himself and will away his hardness, but after a few moments of failure, he gave up, especially after thinking of how sexy Bucky looked after his shower, hair all damp and wavy, still unshaven, his pronounced stubble accentuating his lips. Lips, he happens to know, that feel unbelievably good against his own. And  _ unh _ , that thought had him taking himself in hand to begin stroking and bracing his forearm against the shower wall.

Although it seemed disrespectful to rub one out while Bucky was in the next room, especially while thinking of him, he figured he’d better. If they were to share the tiny bed, and Steve was certainly hoping they would (though he’d gladly sleep on the floor if that made Bucky more comfortable), they wouldn’t be able to avoid cuddling in some way. 

In place of a groan, he had sighed quietly, resting his head against his arm. But the thrill of possibly getting caught, the thought of Bucky possibly storming the bathroom door and joining him had him jerking himself more urgently, twisting his wrist with every upward stroke and applying pressure just below the tip. He thought of Bucky in the next room, waiting for him in that tiny bed. He certainly had noticed Bucky’s subtle musculature. Steve had squeezed his eyes shut, stroking faster. Those strong arms around him. Those sinful legs wrapped around his hips, urging him closer,  _ closer _ . In the end, it was the thought of Bucky’s perfect lips and how they might look stretched around his cock that made him come hard, white streams of semen immediately being washed away by the running water.

He had hoped to get it out of his system but spooning Bucky made his earlier “sacrifice” completely futile, especially wrapped in Bucky’s pleasant scent. He sighs, nuzzling his face into Bucky’s hair. Bucky twitches and makes a tiny sleepy noise. Steve thinks Bucky’s still asleep, but then he strokes the arm Steve has wrapped around him for a moment before interlacing his fingers with Steve’s. 

_ Aww _ . Steve thinks to himself, relaxing into the bed. He hears Bucky sigh and as he waits to see if Bucky will do anything else, he drifts off to sleep, feeling completely at ease and unbelievably happy with this perfect situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear what you think! Thanks for reading! :)


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